Special Sleepovers
by Burgie
Summary: Prince Artemis holds a slumber party for Dusk Shine and his friends. Oneshot, ArtemisxDusk, OaCaA-verse.


Dusk Shine stepped out of the pegasus-pulled carriage and, after waving them off, trotted up to the grand Canterlot Castle. His friends were most likely all already here, although there was a very good chance that Elusive was still at home preening.

"Welcome back to the castle, Dusk," one of the royal guards greeted him with a smile. "Are you ready for Prince Artemis' sleepover?"

"Of course I am," Dusk responded proudly with a nod. "I spent all day triple-checking." The mare giggled before continuing on her rounds of the castle.

Dusk, too, continued on his way to the night Prince's royal bedchambers. As soon as he knocked on one of the large, deep blue double doors, a pink pony leapt out from behind a suit of armour.

"Surprise!" Bubble Berry shouted, almost frightening Dusk out of his fur.

"Berry!" Dusk chastised him, his muzzle warming. "We're at a sleepover held by royalty, show some respect!"

"Oh, Berry, that trick was wonderful," a deep voice chuckled. Dusk flushed a darker shade of purple as the royalty he'd been referring to appeared from the shadows cast by the long hallway.

"P-prince Artemis," he stammered, bowing low to the ground.

"It is good to see you here, Dusk Shine," the prince greeted him. "We were greatly looking forward to having your company tonight."

"Well, I couldn't pass up an invitation from royalty," Dusk replied with a smile. "Is anyone else here yet?"

"Yup! Blitz and AJ are in the room already, Solaris only knows what they're doing, and now that you're here we're just waiting on Scotch and Lucy," Berry listed.

"I do know what those two are doing, too," Prince Solaris informed them offhandedly as he walked past on the way to his own bedchamber. "They're looking through your things, Artemis. Perhaps you should go back in there to make sure they don't ruin anything."

"That might be a good idea," Dusk admitted, flinching as the sound of breaking glass came from inside the bedroom. Artemis didn't need any further prompting and pushed a door open with his hoof before trotting in.

"WHAT ART THOU DOING WITH MY MOON ROCK COLLECTION?" Artemis bellowed at them with the Royal Canterlot Voice, though he broke into laughter at the result of Blitz cowering behind the farmer.

"Ooh, moon rocks," Berry chimed, trotting over to the glass cabinet display of moon rocks. As he stared at them with his nose pressed to the glass, Blitz carefully stepped out from behind Applejack.

"Okay, that was pretty funny," Dusk admitted, snickering.

"Blitz darn near jumped out of his feathers," Applejack agreed, joining in the laughter. Only Rainbow Blitz wasn't laughing, his muzzle red with shame.

"I do hope I'm not too late," a cultured voice broke in as a purple-maned pony stepped into the room.

"Nah, don't worry, Lucy, Scotch still hasn't arrived yet," Berry assured him.

"I do hope he isn't too afraid to come," Artemis worried. "This is my first group sleepover and I want it to go just right."

"Oh, don't worry, your highness, it can't be as bad as my first sleepover with Applejack and Elusive," Dusk assured him, resting a hoof on the stallion's shoulder. "We'll just wait for another half an hour and if Scotch hasn't arrived then, Blitz will go out to get him. Isn't that right, Blitz?" The rainbow-maned pegasus nodded with a grin.

As the time passed, Artemis lay down on his bed and kept Dusk close under his large blue wing. The younger unicorn blushed at first but soon got comfortable under the downy softness of the prince's wing. He lost track of time and, before he knew it, there was a softer knocking at the door.

"H-hello? Oh, I do hope I've got the right door this time," Scotch spoke quietly.

"C'mon in, Scotch! We're all waiting for you!" Rainbow Blitz called. The door opened and soon a yellow muzzle appeared in the room, followed slowly by a pink mane and then the rest of the yellow pegasus.

"Did Angel convince you to come?" Berry asked, bouncing over to his shy friend.

"Yes," Butterscotch nodded with a soft smile. "She's very good at getting me to come out of my cottage."

"Well, someone's gotta do it!" Berry declared. "If she didn't, we were gonna get Blitz to try." Butterscotch's eyes widened in fear at the thought.

"Ah, good, you're all here," Artemis noticed, unfurling his wings to stretch them. Dusk woke from his dozing state as the feathery blanket was removed. "Now that we're all here, the fun can begin!"

Dusk hopped off the bed, watching as Artemis carefully stepped down onto his star-swirled marble floor. Artemis' horn glowed as seven goblets stamped with the seal of the royal pony brothers levitated out from a room leading off from his one, followed by three bottles of fine moon wine. He poured out drinks for all the ponies present and gestured for them to take them. Dusk took his glass and sniffed at the wine, noting that it smelled a little like Artemis' coat.

Artemis cleared his throat, raised his glass, and announced:

"May our hearts be full

Like our drinks tonight

May we sing and dance

Til we lose our minds

We are only young

If we seize the night

Tonight

We own

The night".

All six of his guests raised their drinks to that and took sips of them. Elusive delicately sniffed his drink afterwards and swirled it like a true wine taster.

"Artemis, darling, how do you make this wine?" he asked. "It is so good!"

"Thank you, Elusive, but if I told you, any pony would be able to make it," Artemis winked.

"It's a royal secret," Dusk agreed with a nod.

"You know what's in it, don't you, Dusk? After all, only royalty and special friends of royalty know the secret recipe," Berry announced, causing Dusk to almost spit his drink over the pink pony. Instead, he managed to choke it down with a little help by Artemis patting his back with a hoof.

"Nay, Berry, only those close to myself know the secret behind my moon wine," Artemis corrected him. "My brother only knows because he begged me to tell him, and, as you've so helpfully pointed out, Dusk knows because he and I are... close."

"Sleeping together," Blitz coughed into his hoof, and was met with a glare by Dusk.

"How do you know of our relationship, Rainbow Blitz?" Artemis asked, reaching out a wing and pulling Dusk closer to him. The secret was out now so there was no longer any point hiding their relationship.

"Have you heard him dreaming lately? Ohhh, Artemis, yes, keep doing that with your horn. Yes, nibble my ears and oh I do love getting my horn licked," Rainbow Blitz mocked, much to the giggles of everyone but the couple in question and Butterscotch. Those three were blushing so fiercely that their muzzles were almost smoking.

"I-I didn't know that I talked in my sleep," Dusk admitted once he could speak again.

"Perhaps it would be better for you to have more private sleepovers here at the castle," Artemis suggested to his coltfriend, who nodded. The dream-walking had definitely been fun, though.

"Anyway, are we just gonna sit around chatting about Dusk and Artemis' sexcapades all night or are we gonna party?" Berry asked, pulling a party cannon out of the seemingly-empty space behind him and pressing the button to send streamers shooting all over the room. That time, Dusk choked on his wine and coughed while Artemis soothingly rubbed his back.

In the space of five minutes, Artemis' royal chambers were transformed into a room fit for a royal slumber party. There were multitudes of pillows and blankets, as well as various bowls of chips and candy scattered all over the room. Along with the wine, which sat on its own table, there were also bowls of punch and even a few cupcake towers.

"So, they all know about us," Artemis commented, levitating a cupcake decorated with star sprinkles.

"Sorry," Dusk grimaced. "I honestly had no idea that I talked in my sleep."

"Well, now you do," Artemis sighed softly. "But it is okay, Dusk Shine. We will still remain a couple."

"But won't that mean I'll have to come up to the castle more often? Won't anypony get suspicious?" Dusk worried. Artemis nuzzled his coltfriend.

"Nopony will get suspicious because I will announce it myself," Artemis assured him. "It is time to stop sneaking around, Dusk. In fact, it is partly why I planned this sleepover with all your friends: so they could find out first."

"But Berry-" Dusk began, but Artemis cut him off with a hoof to his lips.

"Bubble Berry may have made the announcement a little early but I had still planned to announce it myself," Artemis revealed.

"And it won't matter that your special somepony is a stallion?" Dusk questioned, rubbing his forehooves together nervously. Artemis took Dusk's forehooves in his own in an attempt to still his fidgeting.

"No, Dusk," he replied. "If they complain, they will be banished. I will make sure of it. And if anypony mocks you for dating the prince, just let me know and I will take care of them."

"Thank you, Artemis," Dusk thanked him, hugging the prince. The alicorn smiled and hugged him back, then finally took a bite of his cupcake.

Sometime during the night, Bubble Berry took out a gramophone and declared that everypony should dance until their hooves were sore. Artemis laughed and joined in the dance with his beloved, dancing with as much grace as the purple unicorn. Everypony was laughing and singing at the top of their lungs, either forgetting or not caring about Solaris attempting to sleep in his own bedchambers next door.

"Artemis," the other prince finally said, standing in the doorway with a nightcap hanging half-off his horn and a teddy bear tucked under his wing.

"Yes, big brother?" the night prince asked innocently from where he suddenly sat with the other ponies in a circle around a bottle. Solaris blinked with a stern expression.

"Don't you think that it is time for bed? Surely Elusive needs his beauty sleep and Applejack needs to be up early to buck apples at the farm," Solaris suggested.

"But brother, the night is for fun," Artemis pouted. "Please let us stay up just a little longer?"

"No," Solaris said firmly. "It is time for bed, everypony." That said, he closed the door behind him and returned to his own bed chambers.

"Big bossy sunnybutt," Artemis muttered, and yelped as a bolt of energy as bright as the sun zapped him on the flank. "Fine then, we'll go to bed!" Still muttering and grumbling, he stepped up onto his bed and levitated Dusk over to lie beside him.

Applejack and Rainbow Blitz found comfy places on the piles of blankets and pillows off to one side of the room, while Elusive made himself a proper bed out of them and lay down complete with a sleep mask over his eyes. Butterscotch, meanwhile, curled up in a little nest of blankets and pillows at the foot of the bed while Berry curled up in front of the punch table. All were just a little drunk from the moon wine, though none so much as the prince and his coltfriend who enjoyed the wine far too much.

When all the other ponies were asleep, Artemis nudged Dusk with his horn.

"Artemis, no, we can't, somepony might wake up," Dusk whispered, his cheeks almost glowing in the darkness of the room.

"Won't that just make it more exciting?" Artemis grinned, nipping his ear. Dusk gave a soft sound of pleasure but only gave in when the alicorn's horn dragged along the length of his own.

"Fine, meet me in the royal baths," he decided, struggling to walk at first thanks to the tingling all along his horn. Artemis grinned and followed his coltfriend, their hoofsteps the only sound to be heard in the castle. Soon, they would no longer have to sneak around. They would finally be able to show their love anywhere that it was appropriate to do so. And, quite frankly, Artemis could hardly wait to be able to take his coltfriend on dates.


End file.
